WE Are Durban, a social upliftment non-profit organisation (NPO) that empowers other NPOs, says they are on a mission to uplift and educate their counterparts to make their stories a success. The organisation was formed in 2011, and so far, more than 500 NPOs have benefited from their assistance. Linda Morrison, who heads up We Are Durban, said, “What we do at We Are Durban is to give NPOs a platform that equips them with skills and knowledge of how to run successful NPOs, by teaching them skills like financial literacy and marketing while also opening them up to a vast network of other opportunities and government organisations which could be of great assistance to them,” said Morrison.
Also read: uMbilo Police Station introduces victim-friendly room
The NPO aims to unite Durban NPOs and businesses by creating a community that is accessible and knowledgeable and also holds people accountable for how they run their NPOs and utilise public funding. We Are Durban currently partners with over 530 non-profit organisations all around KZN which they assist by helping them avoid disconnect in their operations by encouraging them to stick to what their organisation says it does and not what they think they should be doing.
“Often with NPOs, there is scope creep – they start with one vision, and due to need or poor boundaries, either with beneficiaries or donors, they end up doing something quite different. When they take on too much, it becomes a sustainability problem, and the longevity of the organisation is in question,” said Morrison. We Are Durban also works closely with many early childhood development centres (ECDs), which they assist, along with upskilling and networking the ECD workers so they are qualified to work for and with children.
“We have also been offering them first aid courses in IsiZulu because they are often the first responders to incidents where children are in need of emergency assistance. The course is offered in isiZulu so learning occurs in their home language, which gives them the confidence to practise what they learn should a situation ever call them to,” said Morrison.
Also read: Durban University of Technology trains 75 young girls in robotics and coding
While equipping the ECD workers is of importance to We Are Durban, they also help feed the children in these ECDs by providing some food hampers over the December period. According to Morrison, “The reality is, most of these children only get a proper meal at school because of the financial strain of their parents. Come December holidays and that meal is gone, so we try to assist as much as we can by giving them the basic staples to sustain them.
For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.
